It is rare that the electric power obtained from a power supply source such as a solar cell, a fuel cell, or a dry cell is supplied directly to a load without any alteration. As necessary, the electric power obtained from the power supply source is subjected to boosting and power conversion from a DC power to an AC power, which is then supplied to the load.
As a power conversion device for performing such power conversion, devices in various forms have been proposed heretofore. The power conversion device described in Patent Literature 1 shown below includes a converter for boosting the DC power supplied from a power supply source (power generating device) and an inverter for converting the DC power to an AC power.
The inverter includes a plurality of switching elements and performs conversion from the DC power to the AC power by switching the opening and closing of the switching element at a predetermined duty. In the power conversion device described in Patent Literature 1 shown below, the switching element is operated such that the waveform of a voltage output as the AC power is not sinusoidal, but trapezoidal. Thus, a switching loss is reduced to improve conversion efficiency in the power conversion device.